FABENS 
Facts  About  Santo  ^omingo 
Applicable  to  the  Present 

Crisis -• 


FACTS 


SANTO    DOMINGO 


applicable  to  tl)c  present  €xbx5. 


A^  ADDRESS 

DELIVEEED  BEFOEE  THE  AMERICAN  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  STATISTICAL 
SOCIETY  AT  NEW  TORK,  APRIL  3,  1862, 


JOSEPH  WAEEEN  FABENS. 


ILLrSTRATED   BY   THE   OXLY   COMPLETE   MAP   OF   SANTO   DOMINGO   AND   IIAYTI 
THAT    IIA9    YET    APPEARED. 


iSL.V    YORK: 

GEORGE    r.    PUTNAM,    5  32    BROADWAY 

WASHINGTON,  I).  C. :  FRANCK  TAYLOR. 

18G2. 


JOHN  F.  TROT^, 

TniNTEE    AND    STEEEOTYPEn, 

50  Greene  street. 


LIDRARY 
.    ,,  .  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFO 

\M  O  I  SANTA  BARBARA 


F3 


SANTO  DOMINGO. 


INTRODUCTORY     HISTORICAL     REMARKS. 

The  Island  of  Santo  Domingo  is  the  New  World's  classic 
land.  Nothing  in  the  records  of  remote  antiquity  fascinates  us 
like  the  wonderful  story  of  its  discovery  and  first  occupation  by 
the  white  man.  Every  page  of  its  early  history  is  alive  v>'ith 
stirring  incidents  and  pregnant  adventures,  the  strivings,  achieve- 
ments, failures,  sufl'erings,  and  sorrows  of  hold  spirits  and  soaring 
intellects  ;  and,  over  all,  magnifying  their  shadowy  proportions, 
softening,  too,  their  harsher  outlines,  lies  the  dim  mist  of  cen- 
turies. Here  was  the  chosen  and  cherished  home  of  Columbus. 
Here  the  great  discoverer  enjoyed,  for  a  time,  the  sweet  fruition 
of  those  hopes  which  had  been  his  only  solace  during  years  of 
wandering,  anxiety,  and  many  disappointments.  For  this  he 
had  been,  as  Irving  says,  "  exposed  to  continual  scoffs  and  indig- 
nities, being  ridiculed  by  the  light  and  ignorant  as  a  mere 
dreamer,  and  stigmatized  by  the  illiberal  as  an  adventurer."  For 
this,  according  to  Clemencin,  a  Spanish  writer,  "he  had  waited 
in  the  corners  of  ante-chambers,  confounded  in  the  crowd  of  im- 
portunate applicants,  melancholy  and  dejected  in  the  midst  of 
the  general  rejoicing."  For  this,  one  day,  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  weary  with  travel  and  sad  at  heart,  holding  his  little  boy 
by  the  hand,  he  had  stopped  at  the  gate  of  the  convent  of  Santa 
Maria  de  Rabida,  and  asked  for  bread  and  water  for  his  child. 
But  all  this  time,  without  a  home,  without  money,  and  without 
friends,  he  bore  about  with  him,  smouldering  in  his  bosom,  the 
wealth  of  the  great  faith  and  hope  which  was  here  to  be  realized. 


4  SANTO   DOMINGO. 

Here  he  established  the  first  white  colony  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  introducing  also  horses,  cattle,  and  domestic  animals  of 
all  kinds,  grain,  seeds  of  various  plants,  vines,  sugar-canes,  and 
many  European  grafts  and  saplings.  "  There  was  something 
wonderfully  grand,"  says  the  historian,  "  in  the  idea  of  thus  in- 
troducing new  races  of  animals  and  plants,  of  building  cities, 
extending  colonies,  and  sowing  the  seeds  of  civilization  and  of 
enlightened  empire  in  this  beautiful  but  savage  world.  It  struck 
the  minds  of  learned  and  classical  men  with  admiration,  filling 
them  with  pleasant  dreams  and  reveries,  and  seeming  to  realize 
the  poetical  pictures  of  the  olden  time," 

"  Columbus,"  says  old  Peter  Martyr,  who  describes  so  graphic- 
ally events  at  this  period,  "  has  begun  to  build  a  city,  as  he 
has  lately  written  to  me,  and  to  sow  our  seeds  and  propagate  our 
animals.  Who  of  us  shall  now  speak  with  wonder  of  Saturn, 
Ceres,  and  Triptolemus,  travelling  about  the  earth  to  spread  new 
inventions  among  mankind  ?  Or  of  the  Phconicians,  who  built 
Tyre  or  Sidon  ?  Or  of  the  Tyrians  themselves,  whose  roving 
desires  led  them  to  migrate  into  foreign  lands,  to  build  new 
cities,  and  establish  new  communities  T' 

The  theatre  of  the  drama  was  worthy  of  the  stirring  events 
therein  enacted.  Glowing  descriptions  of  its  palmy  groves,  its 
lofty  but  luxuriant  mountains,  its  pictured  landscapes  of  rich 
smiling  valleys  and  broad  sweeping  plains,  its  majestic  rivers, 
flowing  through  aromatic  forests  to  secure  and  spacious  bays  and 
harbors,  its  mines  of  gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones,  its 
numerous  and  beautiful  birds,  its  abundant  fishes,  its  manifold 
and  delicious  fruits,  its  fragrant  flowers  of  perpetual  bloom,  its 
soft  and  voluptuous  climate,  the  cordiality  and  gentleness  of  its 
simple-minded  inhabitants  ;  these  went  back  to  Spain,  thrilling 
the  public  heart  from  Cordova  to  Barcelona  and  the  shores  of  the 
little  port  of  Palos,  and,  radiating  thence,  caused  the  pulse  of 
enterprise  throughout  Europe  to  beat  with  liveliest  throbs. 
Enthusiasts  and  adventurers  flocked  from  all  sides  to  visit  these 
new-found  regions  of  wealth  and  enchantment.  Hidalgos  of  the 
highest  rank,  favorite  officers  of  the  royal  household,  Andalusian 
cavaliers,  fresh  and  glowing  with  martial  zeal  from  the  Moorish 


INTRODUCTORY   HISTORICAL    REMARKS.  5 

wars,  pale  students  from  the  cloister,  devoutly  anxious  to  extend 
the  dominions  of  the  Church,  together  with  traders,  husbandmen, 
miners,  mechanics,  and  servants,  thronged  the  outward-bound 
ships  and  caravels.  As  we  look  back  through  the  intervening 
centuries  upon  this  crowd  of  actors,  by  the  light  of  our  later 
knowledge  and  experience,  they  pass  before  us  with  proud  and 
stately  tread  ;  but  with  remorse,  and  the  sorrow  which  is  often 
allied  to  greatness  and  enthusiasm,  imprinted  on  their  faces. 
Many  were  their  misconceptions  and  terrible  the  mistakes  and 
crimes  which  they  committed  ;  but  swift  and  righteous  was  the 
retribution,  Columbus  is  ever  the  central  figure  of  the  group. 
With  all  his  religious  fervor  and  lofty  purposes,  he  appears  to 
have  been  wanting  in  a  broad  and  earnest  sympathy  with  his 
kind,  and  to  have  fallen  into  deplorable  errors,  till  at  length  we 
are  heart-rent  at  beholding  him  carried  in  chains  from  that  land 
which  but  a  few  years  previous  had  worshipped  him  as  a  god. 
Yet  those  chains,  heavy  and  degrading  as  they  were,  which,  his 
son  Fernando  tells  us,  were  kept  ever  after  hanging  in  his  cabi- 
net, and  which  he  desired  might  be  buried  with  him  in  his  grave, 
were  as  nothing  to  the  heaviness  and  bitter  disappointment  which 
weighed  upon  his  soul.  Far  more  inexcusable  were  the  cruelties 
and  indignities  perpetrated  by  his  companions  and  followers,  and 
thorough  and  complete  was  the  Almighty's  vengeance.  The 
simple-minded,  long-suffering  natives,  on  whom  they  delighted 
to  place  intolerable  burdens,  were  taken  from  them  to  those 
mansions  "  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary 
are  at  rest."  The  land  withered  beneath  their  iron  rule.  Their 
cities  fell  in  ruins,  the  lizard  and  centipede  crawled  over  decay- 
ing rafters  and  among  noisome  weeds  in  the  corridors  of  their 
once  splendid  palaces.  Their  fields  were  abandoned  for  want  of 
labor,  and  the  wilderness  came  back  to  repossess  the  site  of  the 
garden.  They  perished  from  no  visible  calamity,  but,  as  a 
recent  writer  expresses  it,  from  an  internal  gnawing — a  kind  of 
dry  rot.  There  is  something  inexpressibly  sad  and  touching  in 
the  final  exodus  of  the  remnant  of  this  haughty  race,  when,  in 
1795,  having  ceded  the  island  to  France,  they  gathered  up  the 
remains  of  their  great  admiral,  and,  bidding  adieu  to  the  land 


b  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

which  he  so  loved  and  they  had  so  cursed  with  political  and  social 
misrule,  "  westward  took  their  solitary  way."  If  the  active  life 
of  Columbus  was  roimded  by  sorrow,  as  Shakespeare  tells  us  all 
our  lives  "'arc  rounded  by  a  sleep,"  so  the  island  that  was  his 
best  beloved — the  Benjamin  around  which  clustered  the  affec- 
tions of  his  declining  years — after  three  centuries  of  occupation 
by  the  Spaniards,  centuries  of  oppression,  bloodshed,  and  crudest 
wrongs,  during  which  the  bones  of  its  once  numerous  people 
checkered  the  greensward  from  Cape  Tiburon  to  Engano,  re- 
turned again  to  its  former  condition  of  savage  innocence,  of  rude 
plenty,  and  the  semblance  of  patriarchal  repose. 

To-da}',  on  the  same  picturesque  stage,  amid  the  same  bright 
surroundings  of  tropical  enchantment,  a  new  drama  is  being 
enacted,  a  drama  of  far  greater  significance  than  the  old,  in  the 
events  of  which  we  are  especially  interested.  In  the  west  end  of 
the  island,  in  that  comparatively  small  portion  of  its  territory 
now  known  as  Hayti,  a  free  black  republic  exists,  which  is  not  a 
failure.  In  Santo  Domingo  proper,  restored  again  voluntarily  to 
the  rule  of  Spain,  but,  as  I  shall  hereinafter  state  more  in  detail, 
under  very  different  auspices  from  the  former,  with  the  moral 
and  political  equality  of  the  races  guaranteed,  and  the  fairest 
promise  of  a  most  liberal  and  enlightened  policy  of  government, 
we  are  invited  to  try  on  an  extensive  scale  the  oft-discussed 
experiment  of  free  black  labor  in  the  tropics.  It  is  not  likely 
that  we  shall  disregard  the  invitation.  The  emergencies  of  the 
new  era,  on  which,  as  a  people,  we  have  already  entered,  forbid 
the  supposition.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
we  shall  at  once  embrace  the  opportunity  here  offered  us  of 
solving  one  of  the  great  industrial  })roblems  of  the  age. 

Apart  from  the  story  of  Santo  Domingo,  I  find  but  little 
information  of  an  accurate  character  prevailing  with  regard  to 
the  island.  Let  us  cast  a  glance  at  its  geographical  position  and 
topographical  character,  and  consider  a  few  facts  relative  to  its 
climate,  soil,  and  productions.  I  shall  pass  by  the  rose-tinted 
descriptions  of  those  magniloquent  adventurers  who  found  here 
cataracts  of  wild  honey  flowing  over  precipices  veined  with  gold, 
and  saw  on  every  side  the  wealth  of  Ophir  and  the  aromatic 


GEOGRAPHICAL    TOSITION,  7 

spices  of  the  Moluccas^  and  give  only  the  well-authenticated  facts 
of  reliable  residents  and  travellers,  combined  with  the  results  of 
my  own  observation.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  land  is  to-day  as 
rich,  and  the  field  of  labor  as  inviting,  as  when,  according  to 
some  of  the  old  writers,  Hispaniola  exported  twenty- five  millions 
of  gold  per  annum,  and  the  magnificent  palaces  erected  by 
Charles  V.  at  Madrid  and  Toledo  were  said  to  have  been  built  of 
the  sugar  of  its  production. 

Geogeaphical  Positiox. 

The  Island  of  Santo  Domingo  lies  between  the  eighteenth 
and  twentieth  parallels  of  north  latitude,  reaching  ouite  up  to 
these  limits  in  a  large  portion  of  its  boundaries,  overrunning  them, 
even,  in  one  point  southward,  and  extends  from  near  the  third  to 
near  the  ninth  parallel  of  longitude  east  from  Washington.  It 
lies  midway  between  the  fine  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Kico, 
and  its  relative  position  in  the  great  Archipelago  of  the  West 
Indies,  as  well  as  toward  our  own  shores,  and  the  coasts  of  Cen- 
tral America  and  the  Spanish  Main,  is  peculiarly  advantageous 
and  commanding.  It  may  be  said  to  lie  on  the  western  con- 
fines of  the  north-east  trade-winds.  The  seas  in  its  immediate 
neighborhood  are  remarkably  free  from  dangers,  while  its  bold 
headlands  and  lofty  inland  mountains  afford  well-marked  beacons 
to  the  navigator.  Hence  the  native  Indians  had  given  to  it  the 
name  of  Hayti,  or  Highland — and  Quisqueya,  or  Mother  of 
Lands.  Columbus  made  it  his  head-quarters,  not  merely  because 
his  dearest  hopes  were  centred  in  its  welfire,  but  because  it  was 
a  convenient  stopping-place  fur  him  in  his  voyages  of  discovery 
amongst  the  other  islands,  and  to  the  Main.  "  It  was,"  says 
Valverde,  "as  a  centre,  whence  sailed  all  the  expeditions  by 
which  was  discovered,  conquered,  and  settled,  the  fourth  part  of 
the  v.'orld,  we  may  say  half  the  globe.  For  these  and  olher  mo- 
tives it  was  distinguished  from  the  first  by  the  family  name  of 
Spain,  as  if  it  were  the  heart  of  the  country,  from  which  its  peo- 
ple overflowed  upon  the  other  innumerable  isles  and  the  vast 
continent,  proceeding  even  to  the  ocean  of  the  Pacific,  and  the 
Southern  seas." 


8  SANTO   DOMINGO. 

"  Its  situation/'  says  the  old  Padre  Charlevoix,  ''  relative  to 
the  other  islands  and  Costa  Firma,  could  not  be  more  advan- 
tageous, for  it  is  surrounded  by  them,  as  it  were,  and  may  be  said 
to  be  placed  in  the  centre  of  this  great  Archipelago  to  exercise 
jurisdiction  over  them.  The  other  three  great  Antilles  of  Sota- 
vento,  namely  Cuba,  Porto  Kico,  and  Jamaica,  appear  particularly 
disposed  to  recognize  this  superiority,  and  their  own  subordina- 
tion, for  toward  each  of  these  three  islands  it  extends  a  cape  or 
point.  Cape  Tiburon,  which  forms  its  southwest  extremity,  is 
not  more  than  thirty  leagues  from  Jamaica,  and,  according  to 
Oviedo,  only  twenty-five.  Point  Espada  is  distant  from  Porto 
Kico  but  eighteen  leagues,  and  it  is  but  twelve  leagues  from  San 
Nicholas  to  the  coast  of  Cuba.  No  other  position,"  observes 
this  writer,  "will  enable  Spain  to  establish  a  solid  footing  in  these 
waters,  for  none  is  so  capable  to  maintain  the  respect  and  supe- 
riority of  the  nation,  as  well  in  the  islands  and  continents  which 
she  possesses,  as  in  those  which  foreigners  have  usurped  in  these 
dominions.  Its  location  to  windward,  the  great  number  and 
convenience  of  its  ports,  its  contiguity  to  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico, 
with  other  advantages,  render  it  the  centre  of  navigation  and  key 
of  New  Spain.  To  whatever  part  our  fleets  and  squadrons  may 
sail,  they  are  allured  hither  by  safe  roadsteads,  abundant  sup- 
plies, and  secure  seas,  whether  voyaging  to  or  from  Europe,  or 
returning  from  the  Indies,  or  navigating  from  whatever  motive 
in  the  waters  of  this  Archipelago." 

Topographical   Description. 

The  surface  of  Santo  Domingo  is  exceedingly  broken  and 
diversified.  Ilills  and  mountains  rise  in  massive  and  irregular 
piles  in  all  directions,  but  they  look  down  on  smiling  valleys  and 
broad  plains  where  majestic  rivers  flow  through  dense  forests,  and 
past  lands  of  the  richest  2)asturage.  Two  principal  ranges  of 
mountains  run  in  nearly  parallel  lines  through  almost  the  entire 
area  of  the  island,  observing  a  general  direction  from  east  to 
west.  They  lie  at  an  average  distance  of  some  ten  leagues  from 
the  coast.  These  ranges  have  many  spurs  and  auxiliary  chains, 
as  it  were,  taking  quite  eccentric  paths,  and  agreeably  diversify- 


TOPOGRAPHICAL    DESCRIPTION.  if 

ing  the  aspect  of  the  intervening  country.  It  is  owing,  perhaps, 
in  part  to  this  great  topographical  feature,  that  an  impression 
prevails  in  some  minds  that  the  wooded  and  arable  land  of  Santo 
Domingo  is  somewhat  limited^  but  a  closer  investigation  will  dis- 
pel the  erroneous  idea.  "  This  is  the  reason,"  says  the  author^ofjf"^ 
a  recent  work  entitled  "  The  Gold  Fields  of  Santo  Domingo,"  ^ 
(which  contains  some  very  interesting  facts,  particularly  those 
concerning  the  geology  and  mineral  resources  of  the  country,) 
"  why,  on  approaching  the  island,  it  appears  rugged  and  moun- 
tainous beyond  all  description,  impressing  the  spectator  with  the 
belief  that  it  is  a  mountainous  waste,  utterly  destitute  of  any 
agricultural  susceptibilities,  while  it  is,  in  fact,  thickly  inter- 
spersed with  the  richest  valleys,  plains,  slopes,  and  savannas,  where 
the  vegetable  kingdom  perennially  reproduces  itself  in  a  thousand 
forms,  and  in  riotous  profusion,  the  mountains  themselves  being 
covered  with  the  darkest  forests  and  the  greenest  foliage,  to  their 
very  tops." 

M.  Moreau  de  St.  Mery,  in  his  carefully  prepared  work  on 
Santo  Domingo,  thus  alludes  to  the  fertility  and  hidden  resources 
of  these  mountain  ranges  :  "  If  we  may  judge  of  them,"  he  says, 
"  by  the  stoutness  of  the  trees  and  the  thickness  of  their  foliage, 
they  must  be  extremely  fertile.  Some  of  them,  however,  have  a 
rugged  and  sterile  appearance,  but  this  is  almost  always  the  effect 
of  some  mine,  of  which  there  are  many  in  these  mountains,  of 
various  sorts  and  various  fecundity.  The  mountains  of  the  Span- 
ish part  are  high  enough  to  attract  the  rains  that  furnish  the 
water  with  which  the  Spanish  part  is  more  amply  supplied  than 
the  French.  It  is  they  that  preserve  that  perpetual  verdure, 
that  coolness  so  delightful  in  a  hot  climate,  and  the  enlivening 
beauty  of  all  the  vegetable  creation." 

In  Irving's  "  Columbus"  we  have  the  following  description, 
made  up  from  the  papers  of  the  great  Admiral  himself.  Speak- 
ing of  the  magical  ellect  of  the  island's  first  appearance,  as  it  rose 
upon  his  vision  from  tropic  seas,  green  and  distinct  in  the  pure 
air,  and  beneath  the  serenity  of  the  deep  blue  sky,  he  says  :  "  Un- 
der these  advantages  the  beautiful  island  of  Hayti  revealed  itself 
to  the  eye  as  they  approached.     Its  mountains  were  higher  and 


10  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

more  rocky  than  those  of  the  other  islands,  but  the  rocks  rose 
from  among  rich  forests.  The  mountains  swept  down  into  luxu- 
riant plains  and  green  savannas,  while  the  appearance  of  culti- 
vated fields,  of  numerous  fires  at  night  and  columns  of  smoke  by 
day,  showed  it  to  be  populous." 

And  again,  of  the  north  coast  he  says  : 
"  It  was  lofty  and  mountainous,  but  with  green  savannas  and 
long,  sweeping  plains.  At  one  place  they  caught  a  view  up  a 
rich  and  smiling  valley,  that  ran  far  into  the  interior,  between 
two  mountains,  and  appeared  to  be  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
The  coast  abounded  with  fish,  some  of  which  leaped  even  into 
their  boats.  They  cast  their  nets,  therefore,  and  caught  great 
quantities.  The  notes  of  the  bird  which  they  mistook  for  the 
nightingale,  and  several  others  to  which  they  were  accustomed, 
reminded  them  strongly  of  the  groves  of  their  distant  Andalusia. 
They  fancied  the  features  of  the  surrounding  country  resembled 
those  of  the  more  beautiful  provinces  of  Spain,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  Admiral  named  the  island  Hispaniola." 

The  slopes  and  plains  of  the  south  side,  intersected  as  they 
are  by  frequent  rivers,  which  afford  special  facilities  for  communi- 
cation with  the  coast,  offer  perhaps  the  best  field  for  immediate 
colonization.  This  portion  of  the  country  is  well  divided  into 
wood,  tillage,  and  pasture  lands.  From  the  boundary  line  with 
llayti  to  the  city  of  Santo  Domingo,  there  is  a  succession  of 
these  lesser  plains  and  valleys,  possessing  a  salubrious  climate,  a 
soil  of  great  productiveness,  and  a  most  desirable  location.  Both 
Valverde  and  Moreau  spciik  particularly  of  these  inviting  tracts, 
and  make  some  interesting  statements  as  to  their  extent  and 
agricultural  capacity. 

"  The  valley  of  Nclba,  which  is  the  westernmost  of  these 
southern  slopes,"  says  Moreau,  '•  contains  about  seven  hundred 
square  miles.  The  Neiba  River  and  some  mountainous  parts 
separate  it  on  the  east  from  the  plains  of  Azua  and  Bani,  and  to 
the  west  it  is  bounded  by  the  river  of  Dames,  and  the  lake  of 
Henriquilla.  It  is  extremely  fertile,  and  well  adapted  to  com- 
merce, on  account  of  the  largeness  of  its  river.  The  chase  there 
is  both  useful  and  agreeable.       The  birds  multiply  exceedingly 


TOrOGRAPIIICAL    DESCRIPTION.  11 

fast.  This  seems  to  he  the  cliosen  spot  of  the  flamingoes  and 
pheasants,  which  keep  in  flocks,  and  are  found  in  every  part  of 
the  plain,  particularly  in  the  watering-places.  This  plain,"  adds 
Moreau,  who  seems  to  have  quite  a  predilection  for  the  sugar 
culture,  "  would  be  a  commodious  and  eligible  situation  for  more 
than  a  hundred  and  fifty  sugar  manuflictories  or  plantations  ;  an 
opening  to  which  would  be  very  easy  by  means  of  this  great  river 
that  has  long  been  the  boundary  of  the  French  possessions." 
Notwithstanding  its  excellent  position,  and  the  abundant  fertility 
of  its  soil,  it  is  to-day  little  better  than  a  desert. 

At  the  old  port  of  Azua  there  were  formerly  shipped  large 
quantities  of  excellent  sugar,  raised  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood. This  valley  contains  about  1,300  square  miles.  Accord- 
ing to  Moreau,  the  su<iar-canes  in  this  district  <rrew  to  the  heifrht 
of  nineteen  feet,  and  produced  six  successive  years  without  re- 
newal. ''Every  production  of  the  canton  of  Azua,"  he  says, 
"  excels  by  its  cjuality  and  exquisite  taste  ;  it  furnishes  the  whole 
year  round  a  great  abundance  of  the  finest  oranges,  and  so  sweet 
and  pleasant  as  not  to  leave  the  least  tartness  upon  the  palate. 

"The  mountains  of  this  district  are  covered  with  fustic  of 
superior  quality.  It  is  reputed  extremely  healthy.  The  in_ 
habitants  are  tall  and  well  built,  and  more  industrious  than  those 
of  other  parts.  This  tract,"  adds  Moreau,  "  might  certainly 
have  four  hundred  sugar  plantations,  and  furnish  employment 
for  eighty  thousand  negroes. 

"  The  bay  of  Ocoa,  near  Azua,  is  capable  of  containing  the 
largest  squadrons.  The  landing  is  so  good  that  the  stoutest  ships 
may  approach  near  enough  to  fasten  their  bowsj)rits  to  the 
shore.  The  elevation  of  the  coast  on  each  side,  sheltering  the 
bay  from  the  wind,  renders  the  sea  always  calm,  and  makes  it  a 
most  excellant  anchorage.  This  happy  site,"  observes  the  same 
writer,  "seems  to  invite  inhabitants.  The  sugar  formerly  made 
here  was  of  excellent  quality,  and  the  land  yielded  abundantly." 

Next  comes  the  fine  rolling  ground  of  Bani  and  Palenque. 
"  To  the  west  of  the  capital,"  (Santo  Domingo  City,)  says  Val- 
vcrde,  "  is  the  rich  and  fertile  valley  of  Bani,  which  extends  from 
the  Nisao  River  to  Ocoa,  abounding  in  excellent  pasturage  and  all 


12  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

kinds  of  cattle,  whose  flesli  is  of  the  most  delicate  flavor,  and 
who  rejoice  in  milk  and  fatness.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  any 
position  more  desirable  than  that  of  the  fine  arable  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  port  of  Palenque,  and  the  rich  pasture  grounds  of 
Savanna  Grande  adjoining,  where  the  Nisao  Eiver  finds  its  outlet 
in  the  sea,  after  flowing  over  sands  of  gold  and  copper,  and 
through  forests  of  the  most  valuable  dye  and  cabinet  woods." 

To  the  east  of  the  capital  are  immense  meadows,  called  by  the 
generic  name  of  los  Llanos,  or  the  Plains,  extending  from  the 
Ozama  Eiver  to  the  easternmost  point  of  the  island.  These  are 
skirted  on  the  south  side  by  timber  of  the  same  desirable  kinds 
as  is  found  elsewhere.  In  the  time  of  the  early  Spaniards  there 
were  many  valuable  sugar  and  tobacco  estates  in  this  dis- 
trict, which  is  now  unoccupied  save  by  a  few  cattle  ranges. 
Riding,  as  I  have  often  done,  the  day  through,  across  these 
monotonous  plains,  tenanted  only  by  the  drowsy  herds — a  placid, 
slumberous  sea  of  grass — I  have  thought  yearningly  of  what  a 
few  artistic  touches  of  human  dwellings  and  human  cultivation 
would  do,  lighting  up  the  scene,  endowing  it  with  a  living, 
breathing  soul.  Methinks  the  woman  poet  of  England  must  have 
had  a  landscape  like  this  in  her  mind's  eye  when  she  wrote  the 
Emigrant's  Song  : 

"  Round  onr  white  walls  we  will  train  the  vine, 
And  sit  in  its  shadow  at  the  day's  decline, 
And  watch  our  flocks  as  they  roam  at  will 
.  O'er  the  green  savannas  so  broad  and  still." 

The  great  plain  or  valley  of  the  island,  however,  far  excel- 
ling all  others  in  beauty  and  fertility,  is  the  Vega  Eeal  or  Eoyal 
Meadow.  This  renowned  tract  is  situated  in  the  centre  of  the 
island,  between  the  two  great  chains  of  mountains,  and  is  watered 
by  the  numerous  streams  which  flow  thence,  forming  the  very 
important  rivers  Yaque  and  Yuna,  the  latter  of  which  empties 
into  the  famous  bay  of  Samana,  and  the  former  into  the  lesser 
but  well-sheltered  and  spacious  bay  of  Mansanilla.  This  plain, 
which  Charlevoix  estimates  at  eighty  leagues  in  length  by  ten  in 
width,  is  probably  not  far  from  two  hundred  miles  long,  with  an 


TOrOGRAPHICAL    DESCRIPTION.  13 

average  widtli  of  twenty-five  miles.  "  Tliis  magnificent  valley," 
says  Mr.  Courtney,  a  recent  traveller,  "for  fertility  of  soil,  salu- 
brity of  climate,  and  its  exuberant  productiveness  of  all  tropical 
fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetation,  is  perbaps  not  equalled  by  any  in 
tbe  world."  It  was  here  that  the  charming  enthusiasm  of  Colum- 
bus and  bis  companions  seemed  to  culminate,  when  their  eyes 
rested  for  the  first  time  upon  its  vast  extent  and  vivid  beauty. 
"  Here,"  says  Irving,  "  a  land  of  promise  suddenly  burst  upon 
their  view.  It  was  the  same  glorious  prospect  which  had  de- 
lighted Ojeda  and  his  companions  ;  below  lay  a  vast  and  delicious 
plain,  painted  and  enamelled,  as  it  were,  with  all  the  rich  variety 
of  tropical  vegetation.  The  magnificent  forests  presented  that 
mingled  beauty  and  majesty  of  vegetable  forms  known  only  to 
these  generous  climates.  Palms  of  prodigious  height,  and  spread- 
in^c  mahoo-any  trees,  towered  from  amid  a  wilderness  of  variegated 
foliage.  Freshness  and  verdure  were  maintained  by  numerous 
streams,  which  meandered  gleaming  through  the  deep  bosom  of 
the  woodland,  while  various  villages  and  hamlets,  peeping  from 
among  the  trees,  and  the  smoke  of  others  rising  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  forests,  gave  signs  of  a  numerous  population.  The  luxu- 
riant landscape  extended  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  until  it 
appeared  to  melt  away  and  mingle  with  the  horizon.  The  Span- 
iards gazed  with  rapture  upon  this  soft,  voluptuous  country,  which 
seemed  to  realize  their  ideas  of  a  terrestrial  paradise,  and  Colum- 
bus, struck  with  its  vast  extent,  gave  it  the  name  of  the  Vega 
Real,  or  Royal  Plain." 

I  remember  well,  indeed  I  never  can  forget,  the  impression 
produced  upon  me  by  the  first  sight  of  this  same  fascinating 
landscape.  I  was  alone,  and  had  been  travelling  northward  for 
half  a  day,  through  almost  impenetrable  thickets  and  over  rocky 
and  rugged  mountain  paths,  when  suddenly,  on  reaching  the  far- 
thest ridge  of  the  southern  chain  of  hills,  the  broad  and  pic- 
tured scene  burst  full  upon  me.  Fatigue  and  the  loneliness  of 
the  journey  were  forgotten,  and  I  was  content  in  the  enjoyment 
of  such  a  vision  of  natural  beauty  as  I  had  never  before  imagin- 
ed, and  of  which,  perhaps  the  world  cannot  produce  a  rival. 

Should  an  extensive  emigration  take  place  to  the  island  of 


14  SAKTO   DOMINGO. 

Santo  Domingo,  it  would  unquestionably  find  its  v/ay  to  the  great 
valley  watered  by  the  Yuna  and  the  Yaque.  Admitting  the  pro- 
ductive resources  of  this  famous  valley  to  equal  those  of  the 
Island  of  Barbadoes,  and  there  is  no  doubt  they  are  much 
greater,  it  would  of  itself  support  a  population  of  four  millions. 

Climate. 

Eegarding  the  climate  of  Santo  Domingo,  much  might  be 
said,  for  much  has  been  said  by  travellers,  and  of  an  apparently 
conflicting  character.  While  hardly  any  two  sojourners  have 
had  precisely  the  same  experience,  or  arrived  at  the  same  general 
conclusion,  it  also  happens  that  the  natives  and  old  settlers  do 
not  agree  about  the  comparative  healthfulncss  of  different  sections, 
each  taking  care  to  claim  that  his  particular  locality  is  superior  in 
this  respect  to  all  others.  The  residents  on  the  north  side  will 
tell  you  that  the  south  side  is  sickly,  and  so  vice  versa.  In  the 
small  towns,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in  small  towns  in 
more  advanced  portions  of  the  globe,  considerable  rivalry  of  a 
petty  nature  exists,  and  manifests  itself  in  disparaging  state- 
ments regarding  the  climate  of  its  neighbors.  Thus,  at  San 
Christoval  I  have  been  told  that  Bani  was  a  perfect  graveyard, 
although  I  previous' y  knew  that  it  was  considered  by  the 
people  of  Santo  Domingo  City  a  very  healthy  place,  and  was 
on  that  account  often  resorted  to  by  invalids.  An  old  resident 
at  Bani  once  told  me,  treating  of  his  somewhat  straitened  cir- 
cumstances, that  he  had  been  blessed  with  seventeen  children, 
and  added,  as  a  melancholy  fact,  that  none  had  ever  died,  where- 
as, if  he  had  resided  at  San  Christoval,  he  would  without  doubt 
have  been  relieved,  in  a  great  measure,  of  his  expensive  progeny, 
through  the  merciful  interposition  of  a  kind  Providence,  At 
Savanna-la-Mar,  on  the  south  side  of  Samana  Bay,  I  was  advised 
not  to  })roceed  to  the  town  of  Samana  on  the  north  side,  as  I 
should  be  sure  to  take  the  fever,  and  probably  die  ;  but  when  I 
reached  Samana  and  informed  certain  anxious  inquirers  that 
I  had  spent  the  night  at  Savanna-la-Mar,  I  was  warmly  con- 
gratulated upon  having  escaped  from  that  pest-hole  with  my  life. 


CLIMATE.  15 

Of  course,  from  the  peculiar  and  irregular  foimation  of  the 
island,  a  diversity  of  climate  exists.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
in  the  low  lands,  and  particularly  where  the  fresh-water  rivers 
form  a  junction  with  the  sea,  there  is  more  or  less  bilious  or  in- 
termittent fever,  at  certain  seasons.  Our  seafaring  friends, 
whose  fortune  it  is  to  seldom  visit  other  localities,  and  who  are 
not  proverbial  for  their  strict  observance  of  the  laws  which  regu- 
late physical  health,  are  apt  to  receive  unfavorable  impressions 
from  their  personal  experience,  which  they  arc  not  at  all  back- 
ward in  disseminating.  Santo  Domingo  City,  I  believe,  is  ad- 
mitted to  be  the  most  unhealthy  portion  of  the  island,  but  dur- 
ing a  three-years'  residence  there,  I  have  known  but  one  death 
among  the  shipping,  and  that  was  caused  by  an  internal  injury 
received  on  shipboard,  and  in  nowise  attributable  to  any  malady 
of  the  country.  The  city  is  built  on  the  old  Spanish  plan,  with 
houses  of  thick  adobe  walls,  narrow  streets,  without  drainage,  and  is 
full  of  ruins,  where  the  rankest  vegetation  is  allowed  to  grow,  and 
which  arc  the  receptacles  of  all  kinds  of  filth.  Add  to  this  that 
the  people  use  no  precautions,  either  in  clothing,  diet,  or  personal 
habits,  against  the  effects  of  change  of  weather  or  season.s,  having 
no  fireplaces  in  their  houses  and  no  fires  in  the  dampest  and 
chilliest  weather,  living,  too,  as  many  of  them  do,  in  huts  witli 
no  floor  but  the  damp  soil,  and  if  there  are  no  causes  for  the 
sickness  which  sometimes  prevails  in  all  this,  then  it  may  be  set 
down  to  the  mysterious  influence  of  the  climate.  On  the  plains 
and  in  the  highlands  the  air  is  pure  and  bracing,  and  the  nights 
are  often  cold.  The  mahogany  choppers  who  spend  months  to- 
gether in  the  forest,  sleeping  in  their  blankets  on  the  ground,  or 
swinging  their  hammocks  under  trees,  tell  me  they  feel  no  ill 
effects  from  the  climate.  In  January  last  I  met  a  party  of 
Cornwall  miners  about  thirty  miles  from  the  capital,  who  in- 
formed me  that  not  one  of  their  number  had  had  a  day's  sickness 
since  their  arrival  in  the  country,  more  than  two  years  previous. 
The  salubrity  of  the  climate  was  matter  of  surprise  to  them. 

Valvcrdc  says  :  "  From  the  organization  bestowed  by  nature 
upon  this  favored  isle,  there  proceeds  a  variety  of  climate  not 
easily  found  elsewhere  ;"  and  he  further  observes  :  "  in  general  the 


16  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

temperature  of  our  island  is  that  of  a  perpetual  springtime. 
Its  nights  are  cool  and  refreshing,  and  its  mornings,  up  to  the 
hour  of  eight  or  nine,  are  the  most  delicious  that  can  be 
imagined." 

Irving  says,  speaking  of  the  astonishment  of  the  Spaniards  at 
finding  in  December  the  trees  in  leaf,  the  buds  in  flower,  and  the 
birds  in  song  :  "  They  had  not  yet  become  familiarized  with  the 
temperature  of  this  favored  isle,  where  the  rigors  of  winter  are 
unknown,  where  there  is  a  perpetual  succession  and  even  inter- 
mixture of  fruit  and  flower,  and  where  smiling  verdure  reigns 
throughout  the  year." 

"  Notwithstanding,"  says  Mr.  Courtney,  "the  highly  exaggerat- 
ed and  almost  wholly  fellacious  belief  to  the  contrary,  which  un- 
fortunately prevails  pretty  extensively  in  the  United  States, 
Santo  Domingo  is  as  healthy  as  any  country  in  the  New  World. 
Some  districts  are  peculiarly  healthy  and  conducive  to  longevity, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  Monte  Christi,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Yaque,  on  Monte  Christi  Bay,  Santiago,  Mocha,  La  Vega, 
and  the  Koyal  Plain  on  the  north  portion  of  the  island,  and  San 
Juan,  Maniel,  Azua,  and  Banica  on  the  south  portion,  and  even 
at  Port-au-Platte  cases  of  sickness  rarely  occur,  and  there  is  not 
now  a  physician  in  the  place,  although  it  numbers  over  4,000  in- 
habitants. The  valleys  and  plains  high  up  in  the  mountains  are 
unexceptionally  and  uniformly  healthy,  the  air  being  as  fresh  and 
bracing  and  pure  as  that  of  the  mountains  of  Scotland," 

Mr.  Harris,  a  colored  gentleman,  who  has  recently  travelled 
in  Santo  Domingo,  gives  his  testimony  to  the  same  effect.  "  Many 
persons,"  he  says,  "  attribute  the  cause  of  the  island's  decline 
from  its  ancient  splendor,  and  the  supine  indifference  of  the  na- 
tives, to  the  enervating  influence  attending  all  tropical  climates, 
and  without  prejudice  I  believe  such  would  be  very  greatly  the 
case  in  a  large  portion  of  the  tropical  world,  but  it  is  a  libel  on 
Ilayti  and  Santo  Domingo.  The  country  is  a  shealthy  as  Vir- 
ginia, and,  except  in  its  excessive  beauty  and  fertihty,  resembles 
much  the  State  of  North  Carolina."  Said  a  Protestant  clergy- 
man to  Mr.  Harris,  at  Port-au-Plattc  :  "A  man  who  would  find 
fault  with  this  climate,  would  find  fault  with  paradise." 


SOIL    AND    PRODUCTIONS.  17 


Soil  and  Productions. 


The  soil  of  Santo  Domingo  is  fertile  to  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree. The  superior  quality  and  great  variety  of  its  productions 
we  find  to  have  been  a  subject  of  remark  from  its  earliest  records. 
It  was  this  wondrous  wealth  of  vegetation  which  so  captivated 
the  Spaniards.  There  was  nothing  in  the  Old  World  like  unto  it. 
The  lavish  profusion  with  which  the  Almighty  had  showered  the 
choicest  natural  blessings  upon  this  land  of  perpetual  sun  and 
verdure  filled  them  with  awe.  Yet  they  had  but  a  feeble  con- 
ception of  its  real  wealth.  They  dreamed  not  that  the  palaces 
of  kings  and  nobles  should  be  adorned  with  new  beauty  from  the 
heart  of  these  old  woods  ;  that  the  robes  of  haughty  dames  should 
wear  new  colors  from  their  dyes  ;  that,  knitting  the  solid  frames 
of  ships  with  firmer  grasp,  their  century-during  timber  should 
float  wherever  white  sails  voyaged,  time-defiant  alike 


''Beside  the  frozen  Hebrides, 
Or  sultry  Hindostan," 


Forests — Mahogany,  Lignum-Vit^,  Oak,  Dye- Woods,  etc. 

Among  the  trees  we  must  give  preeminence  to  the  Mahog- 
any. This  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the  island.  We  meet  it  on 
the  plains,  clustering  around  the  unfrequented  springs — among 
the  thick  woods  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  and  high  up  on  the  moun- 
tains. It  grows  tall  and  straight,  with  a  long  clean  trunk,  being, 
when  full  grown,  from  twelve  to  twenty  feet  in  circumference, 
and  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  from  the  soil  to  its  lower  branches. 
The  mahogany  wood  is  well  known  to  commerce.  It  is  the  great 
staple  cabinet  wood  of  Europe  and  America.  The  south  side 
Santo  Domingo  wood  is  considered  the  best  in  the  world.  Its 
finest  qualities  are  shipped  to  England  and  the  Continent,  where 
it  brings  fabulous  prices.  I  have  known  wood  shipped  at  Santo 
Domingo  City,  to  have  been  sold  at  the  London  Docks  at  four 
dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  the  superficial  foot.  The  cutting 
and  shipping  of  mahogany  probably  employ  not  less  than  one- 
tenth  of  the  present  working  population  of  the  island.  More 
2 


18  SANTO   DOMINGO. 

than  one-half  of  the  bulk  of  the  cargoes  despatched  from  Santo 
Domingo  City  per  annum,  are  made  up  of  this  valuable  wood. 
Yet  it  is  far  from  being  exhausted.  Indeed,  I  believe  that  in  a 
great  portion  of  the  Spanish  side  of  the  island  the  forests  are  as 
innocent  of  the  axe  as  at  the  time  of  the  discovery. 

Next,  perhaps,  in  value  to  the  mahogany  comes  the  Oak. 
This  tree  does  not  reach  the  large  proportions  of  the  mahogany. 
It  is,  however,  a  very  solid  and  durable  wood.  Oviedo  testifies 
that  he  had  seen  pieces  seventy  to  eighty  feet  in  length,  squared 
up  with  a  circumference  of  sixteen  hands.  Some  of  it  is  hand- 
somely flowered,  bird's-eyed  and  mottled  like  the  finer  qualities 
of  the  mahogany,  and  is  manufactured  into  articles  of  furniture, 
but  for  the  most  part  it  is  used  in  Santo  Domingo  for  the  frame- 
work of  sugar  mills,  and  for  keels,  stern-ports,  ribs,  &c.,  in  ship- 
building, for  which  latter  purpose  it  is  said  to  be  unrivalled. 

The  Capa  is  a  tree  found  in  great  abundance  on  the  south 
and  east  sides  of  the  island.  It  is  smaller  and  more  crooked  than 
the  oak,  but  it  is  compact  and  strong  as  iron,  bearing  to  this 
wood  perhaps  about  the  same  relation  that  our  southern  live  oak 
bears  to  the  pasture  oak  of  the  North.  It  is  esteemed  inval- 
uable in  Santo  Domingo  for  the  knees  and  other  parts  of  ships 
requiring  great  strength  and  durability. 

The  Satin-wood  tree  is  more  rare  than  those  already  named. 
Still  it  is  of  frequent  occurrence,  particularly  on  the  south  side. 
This  is  a  valuable  wood,  and  is  well  known  to  the  commerce  of 
America.  From  its  comparative  scarcity  it  commands  a  higher 
average  price  than  the  mahogany,  but  its  finer  qualities  do  not 
bring  the  enormous  rates  paid  for  the  best  mahogany.  It  is  often 
used  in  cabinet  work  to  relieve  other  and  darker  woods,  and 
being  susceptible  of  a  high  polish  its  delicate  yellow  presents 
quite  a  pleasing  contrast  to  the  brown  and  black  rosewood  or 
the  rich  purple-tinted  mahogany. 

The  Santo  Domingo  Lignum-vito3  is  famous  the  world  over. 
I  have  known  picked  lots  sold  in  the  London  market  at  one  hun- 
dred dollars  per  ton.  It  is  used  for  gun  carriages,  blocks,  and 
pins  of  ships — and  has  recently  been  substituted  for  iron  in  some 
parts  of  machinery.  There  is  still  an  abundance  of  this  wood 
upon  the  island. 


FORESTS — LIGNUM-VIT^,    OAK,    DYE-WOODS,    ETC.  l9 

Among  dye-woods  the  Fustic  and  Campeachy,  commonly 
called  Logwood,  are  the  most  abundant.  The  latter,  indeed,  is 
found  in  almost  inexhaustible  tracts  upon  the  south  side.  The 
Brazil-wood  is  also  said  to  exist  here,* but  it  has  not  been  found 
as  yet  in  sufficient  quantities  for  any  considerable  exportation. 

There  are  many  other  valuable  trees,  such  as  the  Locust, 
Yellow  and  Black  Cedar,  Brazilleto,  Ceiba,  Cabilma,  Pitch  Pine, 
Mamey,  Almicndra,  Tamarind,  Mango,  and  Palms  and  Orange 
trees  of  many  varieties.  Many  of  these  are  very  useful  in  the 
country,  although  their  wood  is  not  so  well  known  to  commerce 
as  those  which  I  have  more  particularly  cited  above. 

The  palm  tree,  however,  from  its  useful  character,  which  is 
by  no  means  generally  appreciated,  as  well  as  from  its  poetic  as- 
sociations, seems  to  deserve  more  than  a  passing  word.  There  is 
an  oriental  majesty  and  charm  about  it,  "  the  royal  palm,"  as 
the  distinguished  author  of  "Two  Years  before  the  Mast"  de- 
scribes it  in  Cuba,  "  which  is  to  trees  what  the  camel  or  drome- 
dary is  among  animals  seeming  to  have  strayed  from  Nubia  or 
Mesopotamia." 

Every  one  who  has  sojourned  long  within  the  tropics  can 
testify  to  the  delicious  character  of  the  palm  cabbage.  The  oil 
from  the  palm  nuts  is  an  article  of  considerable  importance. 
These  nuts,  of  which  the  palm  bears  immense  quantities,  furnish 
in  Santo  Domingo  the  principal  sustenance  of  the  wild  hogs  that 
constitute  the  wealth  of  the  mountaineers.  The  leaves  of  the 
smaller  varieties,  known  as  the  cane  and  fan  palms,  are  used  to  a 
great  extent  in  covering  houses.  Hats  of  fine  quality,  and  also 
baskets,  saddle-panniers,  and  ccroons  are  made  from  the  veins  of 
these  leaves.  Although  the  inner  portion  of  the  trunk  of  the  tall 
palms  is  of  a  soft  and  spongy  character,  and  comparatively  worth- 
less, yet  there  is  an  exterior  coating,  about  an  inch  in  thickness, 
when  trimmed  up,  which  is  used  chiefly  for  weather-boards,  and 
which,  for  consistency  and  durability,  defies  alike  the  heaviest 
rains  and  hottest  suns.  These  palms  also  produce  near  their  top 
layers  of  an  external  covering,  called  yaguas,  which  arc  used  for 
covering  the  roofs  of  houses,  answering  admirably  the  purpose 
of  our  shingles. 


20  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

The  cocoa-nut  tree  is  also  useful^  furnishing  to  the  natives 
oil,  milk,  and  solid  food. 

There  is  another  tree  worth  mentionins; — of  which  Moreau 
says  :  "  I  shall  notice  that  tree,  the  utility  of  which  can  never 
be  enough  extolled,  which  furnishes  the  poor  African  with  plates 
and  bowls  that  he  may  renew  at  pleasure  and  without  expense, 
and  the  means  of  carrying  and  preserving  what  he  could  not 
enjoy  without  the  vessels  which  the  calabash  tree  gives  him  with 
prodigality/' 

In  speaking  of  the  products  of  Santo  Domingo  I  have  given 
the  first  place  to  the  forests,  because  they  furnish  the  principal 
articles  of  export,  and  because  the  wealth  to  be  derived  from 
them  would  probably  attract  the  first  attention  of  colonists.  In 
this  respect  Santo  Domingo  has  a  great  advantage  over  other 
tropical  countries  in  our  neighborhood.  Here  is  a  resource  that 
may  be  made  available  at  once. 

Agkicultural  Products — Tobacco,  Sugar,  Coffee,  Cocoa, 

Cotton,  etc. 

Among  the  other  articles  of  natural  production,  or  which  are 
raised  or  prepared  for  export,  may  be  named  tobacco,  sugar, 
coffee,  cocoa,  cotton,  gum  guaiac,  honey,  beeswax,  hides,  goat- 
skins, and  fruits  both  natural  and  preserved. 

Tobacco  was  found  in  use  here  by  Columbus,  and  has  to  this 
day  been  cultivated  to  more  or  less  extent  in  all  parts  of  the 
island.  It  is  generally  of  excellent  quality,  but  suffers  somev/hat 
from  the  natives'  lack  of  skill  in  cultivating  and  preparing  it  for 
market.  The  best  tobacco  is  raised  on  the  great  plains  near 
Cotvy  and  La  Vega,  whence  it  is  taken  to  Santiago  for  sale,  and 
afterward  transported  across  the  mountains  to  Port-au-Platte. 
and  there  shipped  mostly  to  Germany,  where  it  is  made  into 
cigars,  and  sold  on  the  continent  as  genuine  Havana.  This  is 
the  great  staple  of  export  from  the  north  side.  This  year  the 
crop  will  probably  amount  to  125,000  quintals.  The  cultiva- 
tion of  this  article  can  be  greatly  extended,  and  with  large  profits 
to  the  planter,  as  there  is  an  abundance  of  virgin  soil  iu  Santo 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS — TOBACCO,    SUGAR,    ETC.  21 

Domingo  fit  for  this  kind  of  cultivation,  while  it  is  well  known 
that  the  soil  of  the  best  vegas  in  Cuba  is  mostly  exhausted.  On 
my  return  from  Santo  Domingo,  via  Havana,  two  years  ago,  I 
happened  to  have  with  me  a  few  leaves  of  tobacco  which  I  had 
picked  up  in  a  merchant's  store  in  the  town  of  La  Vega.  I 
exhibited  these  to  a  New  York  dealer  in  tobacco,  who  was  on  his 
return  from  purchasing  his  stock  in  the  island  of  Cuba.  He 
examined  them,  tested  them  by  lighting,  observing  the  odor  of 
the  smoke,  color  of  the  ashes,  etc.,  and  informed  me  that  tobacco 
of  that  quality  would  be  worth  in  New  York  one  dollar  and  forty 
cents  per  pound.  He  supposed  it  was  Cuba  tobacco,  and  was 
quite  surprised  when  I  told  him  where  I  had  obtained  it.  I  do 
not  presume  there  is  any  considerable  quantity  of  tobacco  of  that 
description  now  raised  in  Santo  Domingo,  but  I  do  not  know  any 
good  reason  why  tobacco  equal  to  the  very  best  of  Cuba  cannot 
be  cultivated  there. 

Of  sugar  there  is  but  little  raised,  but  the  amount  is  steadily 
increasing.  There  is  no  steam  mill  on  the  island,  and,  I  believe, 
not  more  than  half  a  dozen  mills  with  iron  crushers.  The  others 
are  made  of  the  hard  wood  of  the  country.  There  are  several 
small  proprietors  in  the  vicinity  of  San  Christoval,  Palenquc, 
Azua,  and  Maniel,  who  cultivate  their  own  patches  of  land,  and 
pack  their  sugar  in  ceroons  on  their  own  mules,  carrying  it  to 
Santo  Domingo  City  for  sale.  There  were  about  3,000  ceroons 
brought  in  for  sale  in  this  manner,  between  the  1st  of  December 
last  and  the  1st  of  January  of  this  year.  The  cost  of  this  sugar 
to  the  planter,  with  his  present  facilities,  is  about  two  cents 
per  pound  on  his  estate.  It  is  a  good  quality  of  sugar,  of  coarse 
and  lively  grain,  and  worth  at  present  in  this  market  about  six 
and  a  half  cents  per  pound.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  it  is 
so  desirable  a  culture  for  proprietors  of  small  means  as  some 
others,  for  instance,  coffee  or  cotton.  As  Mr.  Dana  observes  in 
his  work  on  Cuba,  "  Sugar-making  brings  with  it  steam,  fire, 
smoke,  and  a  drive  of  labor,  and  admits  of  and  requires  the 
application  of  science.  Managed  with  skill  and  energy  it  is  ex- 
tremely productive  ;  indifferently  managed  it  may  be  a  loss. 
The  sugar  estate  is  not  valuable,  like  the  coflfee  estate,  for  what 


22  SANTO    DOMINGO, 

the  land  will  produce,  aided  by  ordinary  and  quiet  manual  labor 
alone  ;  its  value  is  in  the  skill  and  character  of  the  labor." 
What  the  island  is  capable  of  in  this  respect,  under  a  suitably 
organized  system  of  labor,  may  be  inferred  from  the  records  of 
the  early  Spaniards  and  from  the  present  production  of  the 
neighboring  island  of  Cuba,  which  exceeds  400,000  tons  per 
annum. 

Of  coffee  there  is,  at  present,  hardly  enough  raised  to  meet 
the  consumption  of  the  island.  Yet  the  soil,  and  particularly 
that  of  the  mountain  sides,  is  well  fitted  for  this  culture.  In  the 
days  of  the  former  occupation  by  the  Spaniards  there  were  many 
fine  coffee  estates  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Santo  Domingo 
City,  which  are  now  entirely  overgrown  by  the  encroaching  forest. 
The  tree  produces  heavily  in  certain  districts.  Being  at  Cotvy 
in  the  winter  of  1860,  I  saw  a  coffee  tree  in  the  garden  of  the 
priest  of  that  village,  from  which  he  had,  a  few  days  previous, 
obtained  nine  pounds  of  hulled  coffee.  I  have  seen  coffee  from 
Bani,  which  in  its  rich  aromatic  flavor  fully  equalled  the  far- 
famed  Mocha.  The  carrying  on  of  a  coffee  estate  requires  no 
large  outlay  of  capital  ;  a  few  hands  are  sufficient  to  tend  the 
trees  and  gather  the  crop,  and  no  expensive  machinery  is  re- 
quired to  prepare  it  for  market.  It  is  by  the  coffee  culture  more 
than  any  thing  else,  that  Hayti  is  to-day  rich  and  prosperous.  I 
am  told  that  the  value  of  the  coffee  exported  from  Hayti  this 
year  will  exceed  in  value  8,000,000  of  dollars. 

From  coffee  w^e  come  naturally  to  cocoa.  As  coffee  is  said 
to  require  shade,  particularly  in  its  infancy,  and  as  the  cocoa 
tree  furnishes  this  requisite,  they  are  often  planted  together  and 
can  be  easily  and  advantageously  taken  care  of  at  the  same  time. 
In  all  Spanish  tropical  countries  we  find  the  cocoa  tree,  at  least 
in  sufficient  quantities  to  provide  for  the  consumption  of  the  in- 
habitants. According  to  Valverde,  in  the  time  immediately 
succeeding  the  discovery,  the  cocoa  was,  after  the  mines  and 
sugar,  the  most  abundant  source  of  riches  to  the  colonists.  In 
the  16 til  century  there  was  no  other  cocoa  imported  to  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  than  that  of  Santo  Domingo,  which  furnished 
an  abundant  supply.     The  cultivation  of  it  has  since  been  aban- 


AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS — TOBACCO,  SUGAR,  ETC.      23 

doned,  and  only  here  and  there  is  it  to  be  met  with  in  the  gar- 
dens of  the  more  populous  districts.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
culture  of  coffee  and  cocoa  in  Santo  Domingo  by  parties  of  small 
means,  who  would  give  it  their  personal  attention,  would  yield 
very  satisfactory  results. 

Cotton  is  an  article  of  spontaneous  growth.  It  grows  upon  small 
trees  somewhat  resembling  the  peach  tree  in  form.  These  trees 
bear  annually  an  average  of  about  two  hundred  bolls.  It  grows 
well  in  the  poorest  soil,  and  sprouts  up  even  in  the  crevices  of  rocks. 
My  friend  General  Cazneau  has  recently  sent  a  sample  of  the 
bolls  and  ginned  cotton  to  Prof.  James  J.  Mapes,  of  this  city, 
who  will  show  it  with  pleasure  to  any  parties  interested.  This 
sample  was  taken  from  a  tree  which  had  sprung  up  by  chance 
from  the  thin  soil  in  the  hollow  of  a  limestone  riclge  on  the 
General's  estancia,  adjoining  the  walls  of  the  Capital.  I  am  told 
by  the  Professor  that  the  staple  is  both  fine  and  strong,  although 
I  do  not  consider  it  by  any  means  a  fair  specimen  of  the  wild 
cotton  of  the  island.  At  Higney,  near  the  east  end  of  the  island, 
the  staple  is  said  to  be  much  finer  and  longer.  In  the  time  of 
Columbus  cotton  yarn  was  found  in  great  abundance  both  here 
and  in  Cuba.  The  natives  would  exchange  large  balls  of  twenty- 
five  pounds  weight  for  a  bit  of  broken  glass  or  the  merest  trifle. 
At  one  place  in  Cuba,  the  historian  states,  they  saw  vast  quan- 
tities of  cotton,  some  just  sown,  some  in  full  growth.  There 
was  great  store  of  it  also  in  their  houses,  some  wrought  into  yarn 
or  into  nets  of  which  they  made  their  hammocks.  In  1494, 
when  Columbus  adopted  the  system  of  imposing  tribute  on  the 
natives,  in  those  districts  which  were  distant  from  the  mines  and 
produced  no  gold,  each  individual  was  required  to  furnish  an 
arroba  or  twenty-five  pounds  of  cotton  every  three  months. 
This  cotton  has  shared  the  fate  of  all  other  branches  of  industry 
in  the  island,  and  been  entirely  abandoned,  except  so  far  as  the 
actual  wants  of  the  inhabitants  are  concerned.  In  the  present 
state  of  excitement  about  cotton-growing  it  will  probably  be 
renewed,  to  the  great  profit  of  all  interested. 

Besides  these  products  there  are  annually  exported,  as  I  have 
already  stated,  considerable  quantities  of  the   gum  of  lignum- 


24  SANTO   DOMINGO. 

vita3,   known   in   commerce   as   gum   guaiac,    honey,   beeswax, 
hides,  and  goat-skins. 

As  Santo  Domingo  produces  an  immense  profusion  of  flower- 
ing trees,  shrubs,  and  pLants,  bees  are  found  in  proportionate 
swarms.  They  make  their  hives  in  hollow  logs,  in  the  crevices 
of  rocks,  and  sometimes  in  holes  in  the  ground.  In  many  parts 
of  the  island  it  is  only  recently  that  the  honey  has  been  saved 
in  consequence  of  the  scarcity  of  suitable  vessels  in  which  to 
bring  it  to  market.  The  wax  is  cleansed  in  the  rivers  and  af- 
terward run  into  cakes  and  brought  to  the  seaboard  for  sale. 
This  branch  of  business  is,  however,  attracting  more  attention 
than  formerly,  and  some  persons  are  even  making  bee-keeping  a 
speciality.  I  believe  the  export  of  honey  this  season  from  Santo 
Domingo  City  will  exceed  100,000  gallons^  which  probably  is  not 
one-tenth  part  of  the  production  of  the  south  side  of  the  island. 

Fruits  and  Vegetables. 

Of  fruits  there  is  a  great  variety,  the  principal  of  which  are 
oranges,  cocoa-nuts,  pineapples,  bananas,  plantains,  alligator 
pears,  chimetes,  sapotas,  mangoes,  limes,  grapes,  guavas,  &c.  Most 
of  these  are  found  in  great  abundance,  and  some  of  them  could 
be  exported  with  profit. 

In  field  and  garden  vegetables  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  par- 
ticularize. Except  the  Irish  potato,  onion,  beet,  and  cabbage, 
I  believe  all  or  nearly  all  the  kinds  common  to  temperate  as  well 
as  tropical  climes,  are  here  produced  or  may  be  successfully  cul- 
tivated. 

Besides  the  various  productions  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
there  are  many  others  to  which  the  early  settlers  gave  their  at- 
tention, and  the  vestiges  of  which  are  still  occasionally  seen,  such 
as  the  annotto  plant,  which  produces  a  fine  dye-stufl",  called  by 
the  French  rocov,  and  cultivated  on  a  large  scale  in  Brazil  and 
French  Guiana  ;  the  indigo,  which  at  the  close  of  the  16th  cen- 
tury was  exported  to  the  mother  country  in  considerable  quan- 
tities, but  which  now  is  only  noticed  as  a  weed  troubling  the 
planters  in  their  feeble  agricultural  efforts  ;  the  ginger,  which  was 


ANIMAL    KINGDOM.  25 

originally  brought  over  from  the  Moluccas,  and  was  esteemed  to 
possess  medicinal  virtues  in  the  days  of  herbs  and  simples — and 
others  of  less  repute. 

Animal   Kingdom. 

In  the  animal  kingdom  Santo  Domingo  presents  a  respecta- 
ble appearance,  but  not  that  patrirachal  air  of  flocks  and  herds 
which  we  should  expect  from  the  records  of  the  first  Spanish  set- 
tlers. "  The  Spanish  part  of  Santo  Domingo,"  says  Moreau, 
"abounds  in  horses,  asses,  oxen,  cows,  sheep,  goats,  and  hogs, 
which  have  been  propagated  in  a  manner  that  drew  a  sort  of 
admiration  from  the  old  writers  on  America."  Oviedo  said  that 
in  1535,  forty-three  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  island,  the 
cows,  the  first  of  which  were  brought  from  Spain  were  at  so  early 
a  period  in  such  numbers  that  many  ships  returned  to  Europe 
laden  with  their  hides,  and  that  five  hundred  of  them  were  killed 
at  a  time  with  lances  only  for  the  sake  of  the  hides.  For  a  half- 
penny one  might  buy  four  pounds  of  meat,  a  cow  with  a  calf  for 
a  dollar  and  three-quarters,  and  a  wether  for  the  eighth  of  a 
dollar.  The  same  writer  further  says  that  he  fiold  those  of  his 
plantation  still  cheaper,  and  that  many  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats 
and  several  droves  of  hogs  had  become  wild  in  the  woods.  This 
abundance  and  cheapness  do  not  now  exist,  but  with  the  ex- 
ception of  sheep,  which  have  disappeared,  there  is  no  lack  of  the 
animals  above  cited,  and  their  prices  may  be  quoted  at  about  one 
half  of  the  value  of  the  same  descriptions  in  this  market.  Fresh 
beef  is  sold  in  Santo  Domingo  City  at  eight  cents  per  pound. 
In  the  country,  of  course,  it  is  much  cheaper.  Turkeys,  guinea 
hens,  pigeons,  and  domestic  fowls  are  abundant  and  cheap.  In 
speaking  of  the  present  comparative  scarcity  of  cattle  it  must  be 
remembered  that  there  has  probably  been  no  pains  taken  to  im- 
prove or  continue  the  breeds,  and  that  there  has  been  a  constant 
drain  for  the  markets  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  That  colonists 
can  employ  themselves  profitably  in  raising  cattle  there  is  no  man- 
ner of  doubt. 


26  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

MiNEKAL   KeSOURCES — GoLD,    SiLVER,    IrON,    CoPPER, 

Coal,   etc. 

In  mineral  resources  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  enjoys  a 
famous  reputation.  Indeed,  if  we  may  give  full  credence  to  tlie 
universal  statements  of  writers  upon  this  branch  from  the  earliest 
dates  down  to  our  own  time,  it  presents  itself  before  us  with  the 
aspect  of  another  California.  I  am  not  sure,  however,  in  my  own 
mind,  that  these  inducements  will  be  likely  to  attract  the  most 
desirable  class  of  colonists,  and  furthermore,  as  I  do  not  intend  to 
be  held  responsible  for  any  possible  shortcomings  of  the  island  in 
this  particular,  I  shall  here  content  myself  with  presenting  a  few 
brief  extracts  from  some  of  the  leading  writers  above  referred  to. 

Valverde  says  that  the  mineral  resources  are  without  doubt 
equally  rich  with  thy  vegetable;  "but,"  he  very  justly  adds, 
"  there  are  many  mountains  and  dense  woods,  which  have  only 
been  visited  by  fugitives  from  labor  and  outlaws,  and  others,  it  is 
safe  to  say,  where  the  foot  of  man  has  never  trod." 

"In  the  mineral  kingdom,"  says  Moreau,  "there  is  a  good 
deal  of  analogy  with  the  Old  World.  There  are  mines  of  iron, 
copper,  and  lead,  but  there  are  besides  mines  of  gold,  silver,  and 
precious  stones,  and  even  of  mercury,  and  here  the  island  has  a 
real  superiority." 

In  speaking  of  the  country  about  La  Vega  and  Cotvy  the 
same  writer  remarks  : 

"  The  name  of  '  Mines'  was  first  given  to  it,  because  there 
were  mines  in  its  territory,  and  many  gold  ones  were  v/orking  at 
the  time.  But  from  the  year  1520  workmen  began  to  be  wanted 
here,  as  at  the  mines  of  Buenaventura.  In  the  mountains  of 
Maymon  there  is  a  very  abundant  copper  mine.  In  the  same 
neighborhood  there  is  also  pure  iron  of  the  best  quality. 

"Eight  years  after  its  foundation  La  Vega  was  already  a  city 
of  importance.  Sometimes  during  the  year  there  were  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dolkirs  minted  here.  This  gold  was  part 
of  the  products  of  the  mines  of  Cibao,  at  a  time  when  metallurgy 
was  in  no  great  perfection,  and  consequently  when  the  loss  was 
excessive.     The  persons  concerned  in  the  operation  hid  a  great 


MINERAL    EESOUECES GOLD,    SILVER,    IRON,    ETC.  27 

deal  of  the  gold,  and  did  not  count  that  in  grains  or  scales,  but 
only  that  in  the  lump. 

"  The  territory  of  Santiago  is  very  fertile  in  mines.  In  the 
first  place  the  Green  Eiver  has  grains  of  gold  among  its  sands, 
and  there  was  on  one  side  of  this  river  a  mine  of  gold,  the  prin- 
cipal vein  of  which  was  three  inches  in  circumference,  very  pure, 
and  unmixed  with  other  matter.  Originally  the  town  of  Santiago 
was  peopled  almost  altogether  with  goldsmiths,  which  circum- 
stance alone  is  sufficient  to  show  the  abundance  of  the  mines. 

"  The  sand  of  the  Yaque  is  also  mixed  with  gold,  and  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Buttet,  there  was  found  in  1708  a  lump  of  nine 
ounces.  Almost  all  the  rivers  that  fall  in  from  both  banks  of  the 
Yaque,  wash  down  gold  from  the  mountains  which  are  as  yet 
hardly  known.  Twelve  leagues  to  the  south  of  Santiago,  at 
Bishop's  Stream  and  Piedras,  there  are  mines  of  silver.  To  the 
west,  in  the  district  called  Tanci,  the  abundance  of  such  mines 
caused  these  cantons  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  second  Potosi. 
Lastly,  at  Yasica,  twelve  leagues  from  Santiago,  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  there  is  a  little  hillock  abounding  in  silver.  There  is 
copper  also  in  the  territory  of  Santiago,  and  mercury  at  the  head 
of  the  river  Yaque,  In  the  region  above  Maniel  every  thing 
seems  to  bespeak  mines  of  gold,  and  gold  sand  is  seen  in  the  wa- 
ters of  every  stream, 

'*'  Between  the  rivers  Nisao  and  Haina,  lies  an  extensive  and 
fertile  plain,  which  was  originally  a  most  abundant  source  of 
wealth  to  the  colonists.  The  quantity  of  gold  that  was  dug  from 
its  cavities,  with  its  sugar,  cocoa,  and  indigo,  paid  duties  to  a 
greater  amount  than  that  now  paid  by  all  the  Spanish  part  of  the 
island  put  together.  On  the  banks  of  the  Haina,  near  Guyabel, 
there  is  a  rich  silver  mine,  which  was  once  worked,  but  afterward 
abandoned  in  consequence  of  eighteen  negroes  having  been  killed 
by  the  falling  in  of  the  earth.  On  the  same  river,  near  Buena- 
ventura, was  found  the  famous  lump  of  gold  spoken  of  by  the 
Spanish  writers,  and  especially  Oviedo,  who  says  that  it  weighed 
three  thousand  six  hundred  Spanish  dollars,  without  mentioning 
many  others,  that  were  also  of  remarkable  size.  The  gold  found 
here  and  near  Bonao  is  very  pure  and  fine.     Valverde  says,  that 


28  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

in  1764  it  was  asked  at  the  central  office  whence  came  the  gold 
of  the  buckles  that  were  brought  thither  to  be  weighed,  and  that 
it  was  asserted  that  none  had  ever  been  seen  so  fine." 

The  historian  Herrera  says  that  there  was  a  mint  at  Buena- 
ventura, which  annually  coined  from  225,000  to  230,000  dollars 
per  annum,  and  another  at  La  Vega,  which  coined  from  230,000 
to  240,000  dollars  per  annum. 

Oviedo  testifies  that  the  government  royalty  of  one-fifth  yielded 
annually  six  millions  of  dollars  to  the  national  treasury.  Some 
other  writers  state  the  amount  at  five  millions. 

The  author  of  the  "Gold  Fields  of  Santo  Domingo,"  who 
seems  to  have  studied  this  subject  pretty'  thoroughly,  observes  : 
"  If  we  carefully  examine  all  the  histories  now  extant  and  acces- 
sible, of  the  colony  during  its  prosperous  mining  years,  and  atten- 
tively consider  the  geological  and  topographical  characteristics  of 
the  island,  we  cannot  fail  to  be  duly  impressed  with  the  fact,  that 
the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  is  one  immense  gold  field  from  one 
extremiiy  to  the  other.  There  is  scarcely  a  district  of  any  extent, 
or  a  mountain  of  any  magnitude,  where  gold  has  not  been  and  is 
not  nov/  found,  and  so  far  from  its  auriferous  resources  having 
been  exhausted  by  the  Spaniards,  they  scarcely  began  to  be  de- 
veloped. The  California  miner  going  over  the  same  diggings 
to-day,  would  make  them  pay  perhaps  equally  as  well  as  they 
originally  paid  his  awkward  predecessor." 

There  is  a  copper  region  commencing  on  the  Haina,  about 
ten  leagues  distant  from  the  capital,  and  extending  westward, 
which  is  said  to  promise  equally  well  with  the  copper  district  on  the 
south  side  of  Cuba.  A  portion  of  this  tract  is  now  being  worked, 
and  as  I  am  told  very  successfully,  by  an  English  company  un- 
der the  direction  of  Colonel  T.  F.  Heneken,  a  gentleman  well 
known  from  the  valuable  notes  which  he  furnished  to  Mr.  Irving 
for  his  history  of  Columbus. 

With  regard  to  the  coal  beds  on  the  shores  of  the  bay  of 
Samana  of  which  we  have  heard  so  much,  I  have  observed  a 
statement  in  the  "  Courier  des  Etats  Unis,"  of  the  18th  of  Feb- 
ruary last,  as  follows  : 

"  There  have  been  discoveries  of  immense  beds  of  coal  in  the 


POLITICAL    ASPECT.  29 

bay  of  Samana,  and  the  Brigadier  Buccta,  who  was  sent  to  ex- 
amine them,  reports  that  these  mines  are  of  incalculable  produc- 
tion. The  coal  is  found  near  the  surface,  and  is  easil}'  rained  and 
with  little  expense.  The  analogy  which  these  deposits  present 
to  the  famous  English  mines  of  Cardiff  is  said  to  be  extraordi- 
nary. The  steamer  Fernando  Cortes  has  already  taken  a  portion 
on  board  and  tested  it,  and  the  captain  j'^ronounces  it  the  best 
coal  he  has  yet  tried." 

Such  then,  at  a  glance,  are  some  of  the  more  prominent 
material  advantages  which  Santo  Domingo  presents  to  attract 
the  attention  of  colonists.  To  give  a  more  accurate  and  detailed 
account  would  require  a  volume  ;  but  I  think  enough  has  been 
said  to  show  the  field  to  be  sufficiently  fertile  and  inviting. 

Political   Aspect. 

Let  us  now  see  what  other  inducements  of  a  direct  and 
special  nature  are  offered  by  the  people  and  government.  As 
I  have  already  stated,  the  people  of  Santo  Domingo  having  ex- 
perienced several  different  forms  of  government,  since  their  sepa- 
ration from  the  mother  country  in  1795,  and,  from  various 
causes,  not  having  prospered  under  any,  on  the  18th  of  March, 
1861,  returned  again  voluntarily  to  the  rule  of  Spain.  In  their 
attempts  at  a  republic,  partly  from  their  isolated  position  and 
partly  from  their  own  inherent  weakness,  they  had  failed  to 
establish  a  government  efficient  at  home  and  respected  abroad. 
Few  in  number,  not  reaching  in  the  aggregate  150,000  souls, 
spread  over  a  territory  of  more  than  20,000  square  miles,  Avith- 
out  roads  or  postal  flicilities,  and  totally  ignorant  of  the  various 
mechanical  inventions  which  assist  labor  and  add  to  capital, 
they  saw  themselves  not  merely  despised  but  liable  at  any  time 
to  be  treated  with  indignities  which  they  could  not  avenge.  They 
had,  indeed,  returned  to  a  state  approximating  the  patriarchal 
condition  in  which  Columbus  found  their  ancestors  ;  but  they 
had  acquired  aspirations  which  forbade  them  to  be  content. 
They  looked  abroad  fur  aid.  They  stretched  out  their  arms  im- 
ploringly to   the  great  powers  of  Europe  and  America,  but  only 


30  SANTO    DOMINGO. 

from  the  rnotlier  country  was  there  any  sympathetic  response. 
True,  there  was  a  khid  of  semi-recognition  of  the  Dominican  Re- 
public on  the  part  of  France,  England  and  the  United  States  ; 
but  it  was  used  mainly  to  effect  the  payment  of  certain  claims  of 
rather  a  questionable  character.  They  always  looked  to  the 
Great  Republic  of  the  North  as  their  natural  friend  and  pro- 
tector, but  we  have  never  been  quite  ready  to  stand  up  to  our 
high-sounding  professions  of  principle,  and  continued  to  give 
them  the  cold  shoulder.  They  had  not  forgotten  Spain  ;  they 
saw  on  every  side  the  stupendous  ruins  of  the  cities  she  had 
built  ;  tradition  told  them  how  her  ships  had  lined  their  shores, 
and  how  she  had  brought  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  social  ameni- 
ties of  civilization  to  their  midst.  They  were  proud  of  her 
daring  ventures  and  splendid  achievements.  They  had  not  for- 
gotten her  subsequent  oppression  and  cruellies,  but  perhaps  with 
the  softenino-  lapse  of  time  they  had  forgiven  them.  They  had 
heard,  as  we  have  all  heard  with  lively  pleasure,  that  the  Spain  of 
to-day  was  a  very  different  people  and  government  from  the 
Spain  of  the  16th  century.  They  had  heard  of  her  railways  and 
steamships,  of  her  encouragement  of  popular  education,  of  the 
repeal  or  relaxation  of  her  old  oppressive  lav,'s  regulating  com- 
merce and  industry,  and  how,  strong  in  her  sympathy  with 
popular  freedom,  and  with  a  revenue  of  ninety  millions  per 
annum,  she  was  now  claiming  a  place  among  the  first  powers  of 
Europe,  and  they  asked  to  be  participants  in  the  benefits  of  her 
liberal  and  enlightened  policy. 

Inducements  for  Colonization. 

With  very  natural  feelings  of  pride  young  Spain  has  accepted 
the  charge,  and  whatever  ulterior  designs  she  may  harbor,  she  has 
at  least  begun  well.  Let  us  give  her  all  the  credit  to  Avhich  she 
is  entitled  for  this.  She  has  declared  slavery  abolished  forever 
throughout  the  island,  and  threatens  with  severest  penalties  any 
who  may  suggest  the  reinstatement  of  the  system.  She  has  de- 
clared the  perfect  political  equality  of  the  races,  and  pronounced 
emphatically  in  favor  of  the  most  thorough  religious  toleration. 


INDUCEMENTS    FOR    COLONIZATION.  31 

She  has  begun  to  clean  up  and  rebuild  her  old  ruins,  to  open 
roads  and  establish  postal  communications.  She  promises  to  re- 
duce the  duties  on  imports,  and  to  repeal  altogether  the  duties 
on  exports.  She  is  about  to  establish  public  schools.  It  is  un- 
der consideration  to  open  in  the  bay  of  Samana  a  free  port  for 
all  nations.  (Vessels  touching  for  coal  may  now  enter  free  of  all 
port  charges.)  She  has  thrown  open  her  doors,  and  invites  colo- 
nization from  all  quarters.  To  facilitate  this  end,  and  with  the 
special  view  of  encouraging  immigration  from  the  United  States, 
she  has  decreed  that  vessels  coming  with  colonists  shall  be  admit- 
ted free  of  all  duties  and  port  charges  whatsoever,  and  that  the 
household  effects  of  immigrants,  as  well  as  tools,  agricultural  im- 
plements, machinery  of  all  kinds,  plants,  seeds,  domestic  animals, 
printed  books,  and  ready-made  houses,  shall  also  be  admitted  free 
of  duty.  And  she  has  furthermore  agreed  to  exempt  from  taxa- 
tion for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  the  lands  and  products  of  the  i 
lands  owned  or  occupied  by  the  said  colonists. 

In  this  how  grandly  she  offsets  the  record  of  the  old  conques- 
tadores  !  Theij  sought  to  degrade  the  people  of  the  lands  they 
conquered.  Deluded  by  a  false  national  pride,  and  led  astray  by 
pretexts  of  a  most  uncatholic  religion,  they  sought  to  destroy  all 
vestiges  of  existing  nationalities,  and  in  their  place  to  h^bstitute 
the  name,  the  arms,  and  religion  of  Spain.  To-day  she  seeks  to 
ameliorate,  but  not  by  violence.  She  recognizes,  and  manifests 
a  desire  to  preserve  the  leading  features  of  the  nationality  she 
absorbs,  and  rises  to  the  dignity  and  triumph  of  a  true  conquest 
by  withdrawing  from  the  incorporated  people  no  vital  or  inherent 
rights,  and  extending  over  them  the  more  enlarged  freedom  and 
beneficent  institutions  of  the  mother  country.  In  the  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  this  progressive  and  enlightened  system  she 
invites  the  world  to  share. 

How  suggestive  these  facts  !  What  amazing  significance  in 
them  !  Young  Spain,  breaking  through  her  traditional  meshes 
of  intolerance  and  oppression,  at  one  bold  leap,  as  it  were,  and 
here  in  this  beautiful  island  of  the  tropics,  where  Las  Casas, 
through  a  mistaken  idea  of  philanthropy,  first  introduced  in  the 
New  World  the  accursed  system  of  African  bondage,  decreeing. 


32  SANTO   DOMINGO. 

as  her  very  foremost  act  after  annexation,  the  chains  of  the  slave 
broken — and  broken  forever.  Over  our  fair  land  dark  clouds  of 
the  Almighty's  displeasure,  lowering  thick  and  heavy,  whence  are 

"  Loosed  the  fateful  liglitnings  of  His  terrible  swift  sword," 

and  there  His  own  bright  bow  of  peace  and  promise  spanning 
the  ever  green  land.  Here  millions  of  a  degraded  race — scourged, 
crushed,  treated  as  the  very  Pariahs  of  civilization,  drivelling 
away  their  lives  in  the  noisome  Ghettos  of  our  Christian  country, 
free  as  well  as  bond,  the  free  even  more  than  the  bond  ;  and 
there  a  land  as  beautiful  as  Moses  saw  from  the  top  of  Pisgah, 
hill-sides  blossoming  in  eternal  summer,  and  valleys  of  more  than 
oriental  beauty  and  fertility,  happy  valleys,  such  as  the  alithor 
of  Rasselas  never  dreamed  of,  awaiting  them,  inviting  them,  of- 
fering them  homes  of  comfort  and  independence.  There  is  some- 
thing more  than  poetical  justice  in  this.  We  feel  the  presence 
of  that  invisible  Hand  which  blessed  the  latter  end  of  Job  more 
than  his  beginning.  AVho  shall  fathom  His  purposes  ?  Who 
shall  prophesy  what  is  hidden  in  the  future  of  His  mysterious 
providence  ?  Who  shall  say  that  in  the  new  land  to  which  they 
30,  this  resf-o/red  people,  in  the  fulness  of  their  redemption,  may 
not  one  day  rival  the  glories  of  that  dusky  race  who  dwelt  in 
Egypt  in  the  gray  dawn  of  civilization,  and  reared  the  pyramids, 
temples,  and  colossal  statues  that  still  stand  in  wondrous  majesty, 
along  the  valley  of  the  Nile  "^ 


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_  SPEEDY  BINDER 

-   Syracuse,  N.  Y.    ' 
::i:^   Stockton,  Calif. 


11  iiiii  nil  III  mill  III  III  mil  II  mil  mill 


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U(;  .SOUIHt  RN  RLGIONAL  LIBRARV  I  AGILITY 


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